"Um, Harry? You realize that you could be waiting all night, don't you? Owls are nocturnal. She's probably out hunting right now," Ginny said as if he was slow.
Harry just smiled at her knowingly. "Not to worry, Gin. She'll be back any minute now."
As if on cue, a snowy white owl burst through one of the windows in the rafters. She soared gracefully down to the two of them and alighted on Harry's outstretched arm. "There you are girl. Thanks for coming back. I need you to deliver this to the twins for me," he told her as he tied the letter to her leg. He stroked her feathers appreciatively for a minute before she gently nipped at his ear and took off. Ginny had already released Pig and was staring at him openly.
"How did you know that she was on her way back?" she asked outright.
Harry shrugged, "I just know my owl is all. I knew she'd sense that I needed her. She's incredibly intelligent, you know."
"You seem really close to her," Ginny returned unsurely.
"She was one of the first friends I ever had," Harry replied candidly. "And she's the only one who's there for me all year round. We've been through a lot together, she and I."
"What do you mean she's the only one there for you year round?" she asked abruptly. "You know we're always there for you, Harry. Ron, Hermione, and I. And Neville and Luna too. Not to mention the rest of my family."
"Oh I know," Harry hastily assured her. "I just meant that she's the only one who's actually there with me over the summer at the Dursley's." He shivered unconsciously as he remembered the first summer they had spent there together, when his Uncle Vernon had barred his window and locked Harry in his room. Hedwig had been locked in her cage, and the two had shared the meager helpings of soup and bread that his relatives provided him through a cat flap in his door.
"Is it really that bad there?" Ginny asked hesitantly, sensing Harry's change in mood.
Harry looked at her incredulously. "Don't you remember the summer before your first year when the twins and Ron stole me away halfway through the summer?"
"Of course I do," she said, not sure where he was going.
"And don't you remember what they said about my window being barred and the locks on my door?" he asked her straightforwardly.
She gasped and shot a hand to her mouth which had dropped open in disbelief. "I figured they were exaggerating to Mum so that she'd go easy on them. I never realized it was really that bad," she told him earnestly as she reached out to give his arm a gentle squeeze. Harry just shrugged in response. "Have you told anybody? I'm sure Professor Dumbledore wouldn't make you go back there if he knew…."
"He does know," Harry interrupted tensely, shrugging out of her grasp and walking over to a nearby window. He gazed out into the darkness for a long moment before turning back to her. "He's always known and has never done a thing about it. Did you know that my first Hogwarts letter was addressed to The Cupboard Under the Stairs, Number 4 Privet Drive?"
"Cu-Cupboard under the stairs?" she asked tentatively, afraid of what she was about to hear.
Harry nodded grimly and took a couple steps back toward her. "Yeah, that was my bedroom for ten years, until the letters began arriving. They took the letter away from me and saw the way it was addressed and thought that if they moved me into a real room that the letters might stop coming. So they moved me into Dudley's spare bedroom, where they kept all of his broken toys."
"Do you mean to tell me that your cousin had two whole bedrooms to himself, while you were stuffed into a cupboard under the stairs?" Ginny all but shrieked, her tiny fists clenched painfully at her sides.
Harry nodded. "And that's not even taking into account the guest bedroom, which is almost twice as big as that room."
"Unbelievable," Ginny muttered. "How can they make you keep going back there knowing all this?" She asked this more to herself than to Harry.
"We really shouldn't be talking about this here," Harry interrupted. "I don't even know why I told you so much. I usually try not to talk about it too much. People just get this look where they feel sorry for you. I can't stand that look. The last thing I need is pity." He was rambling to himself by this point.
"Harry," Ginny interrupted.
He snapped out of his reverie and turned toward her. "Sorry, got lost in myself there. Listen, promise me you won't tell the others anything that I told you. Ron and Hermione know about the summer after my first year obviously, but I've never told anyone about the cupboard under the stairs before. And I'd really rather people not know."
She nodded, "Of course Harry. Your secrets are safe with me. You know that." He nodded gratefully to her. After a moment, she voiced a question niggling in her brain. "Why'd you tell me?"
"What?" he asked, turning back toward her.
"You said that you've never told anyone about the cupboard before. So why me?"
"Oh," he replied, scratching his head for a moment. "I don't know, really. I wasn't really thinking about it. Normally I don't like to talk about the Dursleys. It makes me uncomfortable, so I just try to avoid any questions as best I can. But when it came up with you…" he spread his hands out in front of him in a helpless gesture. "I didn't really feel the need to hide anything, I guess. I think I just find you easy to talk to. Like you won't judge me or jump to conclusions or anything. And I know you won't overreact or try to force me to open up and tell you more than I want to. I could never talk to Ron or Hermione about them because Ron would just get mad and blow up and Hermione would get analytical and want to dissect my life to help me move past it or some other such tripe."
Harry looked up to find her staring at him. "I'm rambling again, aren't I?"
She shook herself out of her stupor. "Maybe a little bit." She smiled then, significantly lightening the mood. "Shall we head back then?"
"I suppose we should," he agreed. "We're probably already in for a lecture and some questioning for taking so long."
She giggled and replied, "You're probably right." The return trip passed by with some light-hearted chatter. Harry was glad for the change in conversation, and Ginny was silently beaming that Harry had chosen to confide in her.
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